Blood Moon
by Markolvr
Summary: It's Halloween, and the Frogs are ready for a hunt. But so is Paul, and he's about to meet his first skin walker.


Two little boys raced after each other down the boardwalk, one dressed as a cowboy and the other dressed as Batman. The one in the super hero outfit held in the small palm of his hand a toy gun that looked more like something from a Star Trek movie. You could see through it and it sparked when he pulled the trigger and made strange zapping, zinging noises. He chased after his brother, Halloween candy bag held tight in his other hand, and ran straight into the Frog Brothers comic book store. The doors were wide open and inviting, as all the other doors to the small shops in town were on this night alone for trick and treating. But little did the two boys know that that wasn't the purpose of this particular shop as they raced past the string of garlic hanging just to the left of Laughing Sal.

"Destroy all aliens!" Batman declared towards his brother. He pointed the gun and fired as they did serpentines in and around the large stacks of comics, knocking a few off the shelves as they went.

After a hefty chase, their mom finally reached the entrance of the store just behind them, and with one hand on the door panel, took a deep breath before stepping in. "I'm not an alien you jerk!" she heard her youngest son respond as she rounded the corner and prepared for her own battle as big bad mom.

She would never have guessed that the two Frogs stood at the foot of the store watching the whole scene in full army gear. Alan was in his usual beret and camouflage painted face, and his dog tags dangled near the thin collared t-shirt he wore. Edgar, as always, had his red bandanna manually tied around his forehead, his cheeks smeared with a few hints of green and black paint. Both of them stood with their arms crossed. If it was one thing they couldn't stand more it was the carelessness of parents on All Hallows Eve, letting their children run around like little monsters with no real protection or the knowing that this of all nights was the most dangerous. Of course there were the tales in which it was said that the demons and ghouls actually took the night off. Now that was a lie. Why take a holiday when you could have the freedom to do as you pleased? So, the two hunters took it upon themselves and used the opportunity to educate the general public. The ultimate question being…why pass out candy when you could pass out survival manuals?

Alan groaned and lifted the right corner of his upper lip into a sneer as the two boys headed their way. Just five more minutes of this nonsense and they could close the store. That's when Halloween would really begin, at least for them.

The boys ran straight for them. The cowboy looking back over his shoulder, nearly tripping over his boots to see if the Batman was close at his heels, flipping the switch of his gun and sending crazy, out of this world sounds echoing through the store.

Edgar stopped him, pushing a hand against the little boys chest as though he'd hit a brick wall. "Hold it right there!" he croaked, causing the young kid to turn and look straight up at him wide eyed.

His older brother stopped just short of Alan and gave the vampire hunter a once over. "Aww I thought it was gona be Sponge Bob," he snorted and turned down his nose.

The younger boy still staring at Edgar slowly lifted his bag and smiled before blurting, "Trick or Treat!"

Edgar nearly jumped, but frowned down at him just the same before removing his hand from the kids chest, only for the sole purpose of grabbing a treat. He reached back into a comic book bin and produced non other than the infamous 'Vampires Everywhere,' which he then continued to stuff into the boys bag.

At the same time, their mother caught up, huffing and puffing. She pointed a finger at the two. "Now what did I tell you boys about running off like that?"

Alan made a noise that almost sounded like a low growl and stuffed the same comic into Batman's sack. The boys hesitated for a moment and then pulled the comics back out with an odd, contorted look on their faces.

"Read it boys. It'll save your life," Edgar told them in the same raspy voice as before. Then he raised a finger at their mother. "And that goes for you too! Halloween isn't some kind of joke. There could be all kinds of creeps out there waiting for you. Now…everyone out! We're closing."

Batman and the cowboy turned to look at their mom with a quiver of their lower lips and soon small sobs could be heard. "Well, I don't believe!" she snapped, stepping forward to take one of the booklets from her boys hand. "Just what kind of shop do you think you're running around here?" she asked, flipping through the material. "You should be ashamed of yourselves, scaring young kids like this. Halloween is all about fun and candy and costumes."

"Lady…you're fooling yourself," Alan told her quite simply.

The woman glared back, and if simple, ordinary people could cast spells, Alan would have got the butt of an ugly one. Then, she grabbed the arm of her eldest and pulled him towards the exit. "Boys, let's go!" Her angry voice elevated. The sound was more like a high pitched note an opera singer might make as she slammed both comics down on the counter before vanishing into the crisp night air.

Alan relaxed his posture and let out a breath. "Finally. I thought this shift would never end. By the time we get out there all the good hunting possibilities will be gone."

Edgar closed one of the sliding doors and then the other. "Nah, we've still got a few good hours. Besides, the best hunting starts at the midnight hour. You got the bags ready?"

"Yep. Weapons and ammo are a go. You want me to grab the pumpkins?"

"Nope. Already got 'em. Just grab the lighter, will ya?" Edgar locked up and placed a small line of salt across the doorway. They had learned a few things in the recent last year, one of which included carrying pumpkins with you, on this night especially, to keep the risen undead souls at bay, and a line of rock salt at all entryways to keep demons out. Last but not least on their way out, a few carved and lit pumpkins as an extra precaution lined the outside of the shop. Of course the carvings were nothing fancy, mostly just words like, 'not invited, and keep out.'

Both of the hunters nodded in approval as they stared down at their gourds and adjusted the bags on their backs to sit squarely in the middle of their spines. Then with a look of determination, they headed down the boardwalk. Most of the parties on the beaches would last well into the night, but the ones of most concern were held out of bounds, further down the beach and out of reach. More towards Hudson's bluff and back towards the outskirts of town. That's where the real hunting would begin.

~..~

The crazy cackle of a witch caught Paul's attention as he strolled past the haunted house on the Boardwalk and turned to look at the puppet hanging over one of its windows. The green light in the background flashed like a strobe light, causing him to shake his head as if he were on an acid trip. The feature itself was even more decked out for the Holiday with added spider's webs and black cats. Bats were strewn here and there just outside the door, fluttering about as if they were real, and the pumpkins…oh the pumpkins. They seemed to be everywhere, in every shape, form and carving, from intricate designs to simple smiley faces. Even Wolf man stood behind the ticket booth, waving people into line as Frankenstein walked heavily back and fourth doing his best impression of the 'Monster Mash' at the black entrance.

Now Paul understood why David insisted on staying in on this night. Everything was well overplayed, and even the dead that had risen for a bit of fun seemed in on it. It was enough to give him a headache, and even though there was no real chance of that happening, it would still require some doctoring from his sweet Mary Jane. He pulled a small baggy from the pocket of his long coat and easily rolled a joint as he walked. What he also needed was a good kill. A hard to catch sort of kill, one that would end in blood, blood and more blood. The darker end of the beach would suit his needs for that sort of ritual. Maybe even down under the cliffs of Hudson's bluff. He knew of a place down there where the sand was still soft and inviting.

Max of course wouldn't have it. He insisted that they stay away from the scene and shed no blood, no kills, no nothing. Not even a simple drink at the bar, which of course was where the other three were at that very moment, plotting out kills of their own. What better Halloween trick than to have a full display of bodies positioned in every which way just outside the head vampires doorway? Max would shit blood bricks if he could and try to ground them to the cave for sure.

"Whatever," Paul huffed silently before taking flight out of the view of any onlookers. The ole man deserved what he got.

He soon landed down on another beach just outside of Santa Carla, one that had high dunes and lots of grassy type weeds. The smell of a fire and burning wood made it's way over to him as he wondered up onto the hill of sand just overlooking the beach itself. There a small flame rose as though it were trying to climb up the smoke it created and touch the full moon. The waves crashed in behind it and just clipped the heels of a young girl who danced to a rhythm all her own. She wore what looked like a one hundred year old, one-piece leotard in black with one leg completely removed. The rest of it hugged her curves and moved with her as if it were a part of her flesh, minus a few more pieces of cloth around the sides of her waist and one arm. Her hair fell in waves down her back, held up neatly in a single ponytail, and she looked as though she thought she were the only one on Earth at that moment.

"What the hell?" Paul thought for a second, mesmerized by the sheer innocence this girl seemed to emit and yet at the same time illustrated no fear. "Sweet. Cherry. Pie," he said slowly to himself, feeling his fangs descend.

Her bare feet danced around the fire, lightly tapping the sand as if there was music playing just below the surface. Her hips did the same, rolling around in small circles to follow the invisible beat.

Paul heard a wolf howl in the distance and knew that it wasn't a regular one. The girl looked up as well, although more at the moon than in the direction of the wolf and then continued to dance. In fact, for a second, he could have sworn that her mouth had formed to the sound of that howl. "My, my, what big eyes you have," he whispered, moving forward now in full demonic form.

He crouched low, moving around her in the shadows and took a hold of the backs of her arms. Not even a wail for help escaped from her delicate mouth, and to his surprise, she remained calm. He turned her roughly towards him, her deep blue eyes sinking into the electric blue of his own, and she laughed. Paul hadn't expected this at all and in anger he shook his head and growled, twisting his hold, letting his elongated nails dig into the flesh of her arms. But when he looked down she was gone and what he had thought was her had been the palms of his own hands. A few slight streams of blood trickled down the inside of his wrists as he watched the slits heal.

"What the fuck?" he cursed, turning in a circle to see where she had gone. Not far down the beach he spotted her, running like an ample footed dear, almost bounding over the sand. It was inhuman, her speed, but it didn't matter, he was back on her in seconds, running at her backside, reaching with his claw like talons to latch onto the leopard like skin she wore. She darted to the left and then to the right, leaping up over the waves and landing on a few rocks that jetted out from under the seawater. Her laughter rose high into the air again, mocking his inability to go through it. Suddenly, there were words carved into the sand at his feet. 'P. S. she's in disguise.'  
"Come on girl, isn't that obvious?" he yelled, throwing up his arms and letting them fall back at his sides. His inhuman speed was something but this girl was almost like a shadow.

She whistled at him and pointed down the beach where a group of people gathered around another raging bonfire, and before he knew it, she was racing down the beach towards it.

"Fuck me," he whispered. Sure he had wanted a tough kill, but this was almost insane. Except now more than ever he could smell the booze, he could smell the lust, and most of all he could smell the blood. So this little pixie wanted to play huh? "Fine by me," he shouted after her and took to the air. It saved so much time when chasing prey.

He landed just behind her, knowing that that was probably what she was expecting, so this time he simply tapped her shoulder. She turned to face him, her fingers lightly dancing over the shoulder of the man she stood next to. He was seated on a peace of dry driftwood and didn't seem to notice much of the action that was going on behind him. The girl that was supposed to be dinner now turned mystery, leaned into Paul and very quietly let out a soft howl in his ear. She then ran her longer than normal nails painted in red down the black mesh of his shirt.

"I uh…" Usually it was Paul playing the sexy turn on tricks but this time he was lost for words. It felt as if she had just planted a magnet in the middle of his stomach and he could feel his sex rising.

The girl on the other hand, had other things in mind, and she raised her free hand high in the air with a smile on her face and sent it straight down into the shoulder of the man behind her. The sharp tips of her nails sliced easily through the meaty shoulder of the guy and he let out a crying scream. The others in the group, drunk and sedated by their alcohol, drowsily looked up and then began to chuckle amongst themselves as if it were just another dirty Halloween trick.

Paul was suddenly pushed backwards. "Come and get it big boy," she taunted and turned back to her victim, slashing her other hand into his opposite shoulder. She picked him up and tossed him into the center of the circle, and he landed with a snap in the fire. Another scream and he rolled out of the burning rubble, his flesh sizzling as he wailed. One of the girls in the circle stood up terrified.

"What the hell are you doing? That isn't a Halloween trick! Someone call 911!"

The girl gave Paul a sideways smile. "Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to have a little fun?"

"Oh hell ya! Now we're talking!" He all but charged the terror stricken girl of the bunch, fully fanged and took her down. She kicked and struggled under his weight, yelling out for help from one of her friends but no one came, and Paul let out an animalistic laugh. He yelled and tossed his head to heighten the girls fear. His hands ripped her shirt open and his nails dug in just under her breasts, spreading her ribs apart until she could no longer breath. And finally, when he could resist no more, he slashed her neck open, dipping in for a drink.

~..~

The Volkswagen bus, now considered a high commodity to the Frogs, skidded to a halt on the thin strip of pavement just before the beach and the two hunters eyed their surroundings. Edgar had a local radio station playing just in case any strange reports were aired, but for now it seemed that the only thing rolling across the airwaves were creepy, festive Halloween tunes.

"Alright everybody it's the midnight hour! Awroo!" the DJ let out a howl. "And now I'll be taking requests till two am. So lets all let out our inner wolves, ghouls, ghosts and vampires and get down and dirty."

Alan shook his head. "People will never understand the effort it takes to keep them safe."

"Then we'll just keep pushing. I swear I'll die before I let a ghoul run for president." Edgar scanned the beach. He could see the flicker of firelight and just barely make out a few moving bodies. "Hey, grab my binoculars!"

Alan reached into the back seat and grabbed the tool, taking the initiative to look first. "We've got werewolves!"

"Where?" Edgar grabbed the binoculars from him before waiting for an answer and looked for himself. "You are correct my friend."

Alan frowned and looked at him. "Since when am I just your friend?"

"Since right now. Let's go!" The two of them flung the doors open and jumped out, silver bullets loaded and locked into their pistols. They raced across the sand, only stumbling a few times as the dry grains spewed from their boots.

~..~

Two of the bigger men in the bunch shed their drowsy eyes as soon as Paul dug into his dinner and stood up. Their eyes now burned silver blue and they tightened their hands into fists. "This is our party!" one of them growled, showing a set of pearly canines.

Paul rose and stepped away from the body below him. "Oh you're wrong about that bud! This is my party now." He watched as the two men's muscles twitched and contorted as they sprouted fir and grew snouts, but he didn't flinch from his position. He had taken on bigger fleabags in his time, and from what he could tell, the girl was on his side. He half expected her to show some wiry hair, but so far, all she had shown for her true nature was a bit of fang and longer nails. Still, she had killed with cunning and skill.

The rest of the group took one look at the newly transformed werewolves who they thought had been their friends and jumped off their seats like a bunch of Mexican jumping beans. They took off as fast as they could in the direction of the lone Volkswagen beetle where the two Frogs were headed in their direction. Their screams filled the air as they raced past them.

"Don't worry, we're here to help," Edgar reassured them with little effect.

With only one body devoured, the mystery girl turned her attention towards the two burly werewolves and snarled. "I'm still hungry boys, and you've just chased my dinner away. So…I suggest that you go get them and bring them back here." She smiled cockily and winked at Paul.

Paul took an unneeded breath and put his hands on his hips. "I don't think they know how to play fair."

"We don't take orders from half lings and suck monkeys." One of them growled.

"Did you just call me a suck monkey? You big hairy ape, I'll rip your fangs out and gut you with them!" Paul smarted, taking his jacket off and throwing it aside.

After hearing this, one of the wolves charged him, throwing him off his feet, and sending him to the ground. But he couldn't keep him down for long, he sprang forward and leapt at the wolf, using half his ability in flight to bring an elbow down hard across the animals snout before ripping away one of its ears.

The other wolf took after the girl, but his bulk kept her clear of his paws as she hopped back and fourth in front of him. She reached for them, grabbing his forearms in her hands and slid herself under between his legs, popping back up on the other side. She raked her nails down his back leaving strips of flesh hanging from every point on his body. The werewolf flipped around and ducked, snatching one of the girl's legs out from under her and pulled her into the air. In retaliation, she swung herself forward and slashed into the wolf's ankles, cutting tendons and ligaments. This caused the brute to instantly drop her. She had all but cut the creature's feet off, and he stumbled backwards yelping up at the moon.

Paul twisted and turned in the sand trying to avoid the other's claws. He was a little more agile than the other and he leapt forward, his jaws wide, teeth bared, just missing a hold on Paul's left leg. The near miss landed Paul on his ass just inches from the girl he'd eaten. He reached forward with one hand and twisted the girl's leg until it snapped clean off, leaving a splintered end of bone protruding from the still fresh flesh. With his new weapon in hand, Paul surged forward, sending the bone straight through the heart of the wolf. "Have a treat, on me!"

"Look out, look out, clear the way," Edgar yelled as they approached, fingers on the triggers.

The girl took one look at the two brothers and scooted away, just missing a flying silver bullet. It shot past her and into the pelt of her adversary, just missing his heart.

"You heard him, move over!" Alan yelled as he darted towards Paul and attempted to push him out of the way, only to find that he ricocheted off him like a brick wall. Alan just shook it off and kept firing at the hairy beast in front of him until it fell with a hard thud to the sand.

Edgar finished off his round and ended his mission by slitting the throat. The girl stood beside him, still in fang and crossed her arms. "You know that's not necessary right? He's already dead."

Edgar stood up and eyed her up and down. "What? Like you did any better? Who the hell are you? This is our turf? It's too dangerous for amateurs."

Paul let out a shrill laugh and showed Alan his face. "I'll show you amateur, you sick little freak."

"Holy shit, Edgar, we've got vampires!"

"Christ Alan! I told you we should have brought more supplies."

The girl let out a sigh. "Boys, boys, boys. Let's let bygones be bygones shall we? It's past midnight and I'm still hungry."

"Yah, but if we let you go, that's one more innocent victim gone in the morning," Edgar told her. He quickly reloaded and pointed his pistol at her.

"Well, I can tell you right now that that little bullet you have there won't kill me, even if you manage to make it through the heart. So, here's what I say, you let us go and we won't have to kill you, because I gotta say, that scared little heart of yours pumping all that blood, really sounds yummy right about now."

Paul smirked. "Punk! Maybe if you tried pulling those stakes out of your asses you might learn to have a little fun…or not. Either way, one day…payback is a bitch."

Edgar raised his other hand. "Ok, ok." He slowly lowered the gun and started to back away, nodding at Alan to follow. "But if you try to stop us or vamp out in any way than I'll stake you without even thinking twice about it!"

"Hell man, get another line, you tard!" Paul retorted.

The girl didn't wait for the Frogs to vanish before sauntering over to the bloodied, dirty vampire. "You have to admit that was fun." She licked her lips and flicked at a loose strand of his hair.

Paul turned to face her and smiled. "Well, look at you, just as sharp and wily as ever." He traced her figure with one hand, just barely caressing one of her breasts and moved in for a kiss.

She pushed him away and he grunted disappointedly. "What the hell are you anyway? Some Goddess sent to Earth on Halloween night to torture me?"

"No, just thought you might want to have some fun. I saw that sad little face of yours earlier on the Boardwalk." She turned and grazed his cheek with her fingertips. "They call us skin walkers. Not quite wolves, not quite humans, but we still hunt just the same."

"Never met one of you before. Are you all this sexy?"

She smiled reticently "Maybe… Happy Halloween Paulie boy."

"Wait, what, you're leaving? I thought you were still hungry? Man, I'm starving."

"I am. But you know just as well as I do that your friends are headed this way. So, maybe I'll see around." She winked and slinked away before skipping on down the beach.

Paul gave her a salute and reached for his weed. He looked up over the sand to see the other three coming towards him looking as though they had already fed. Boy did he have a story for them.


End file.
